[Review] Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Cover image from the TheStoryGraph Site.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 1 June, 2021

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, a division of Macmillan Publishing

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/LGBTQIA+/Contemporary/Thriller

ISBN: 9781250800817

Edition: Hardback and Audiobook (also available in Paperback and eBook)

Rating:★★★★★

Review Written: 16 September, 2021
Warnings: Racism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Bullying, Hate crime, Outing, Stalking, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Police brutality, Cursing, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Grief, Biphobia, Gore, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol, Injury/injury detail, Child death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Addiction, Confinement, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry

Summary:  

A compelling, incendiary, and unputdownable thriller with a shocking twist, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé delves deep into the heart of institutionalized racism with this compulsive debut.

Hello, Niveus High. It's me. Who am I? That's not important. All you need to know is...I'm here to divide and conquer. - Aces

Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students' dark secrets to light.

Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can't escape the spotlight when his private photos go public.

Head girl Chiamaka isn't afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power.

Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they're planning much more than a high-school game...

See more by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé on her website.

[Review] The Project by Courtney Summers

 

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 2 February, 2021

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Genre: Young Adult/Thriller

ASIN: B088KSMYJS

Edition: Audiobook (also available in Hardback and eBook)

Rating:★★☆☆☆

Review Written: 29 July, 2021
Warnings: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Car accident, Suicide, Grief, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Child abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Gore, Infertility, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Cults

Summary:  

"THE UNITY PROJECT SAVED MY LIFE."

Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo's sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there's more to the group than meets the eye. She's spent the last six years of her life trying - and failing - to prove it.

"THE UNITY PROJECT MURDERED MY SON."

When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its charismatic and mysterious leader, Lev Warren, he proposes a deal: if she can prove the worst of her suspicions about The Unity Project, she may expose them. If she can't, she must finally leave them alone.

But as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members, and spends more time with Lev, it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her - to the point she can no longer tell what's real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren . . . but now she doesn't know if she can afford not to.

WELCOME TO THE UNITY PROJECT.

See more by Courtney Summers at her website.

[Review] The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Series: The Hazel Wood #1

Release Date: 30 January, 2018

Publisher: McMillian Audio

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Contemporary Fantasy/Psychological Thriller

ISBN: 9781427293534

Edition: Audiobook

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 16 June, 2018

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: Her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

See more by Melissa Albert at her Website.